It’s Christmas Eve 1968, a year of war, assassinations, and protests.
A crackling voice can be heard on radios around the world.
“From the crew of Apollo 8, good night, good luck, and Merry Christmas. And God bless you all on the good Earth.”
Almost a third of the world’s population has heard these words. This is the most commonly heard phrase in human history.
The man who spoke those words from lunar orbit was Commander Frank Bowman, who died this week in Billings, Montana. NASA announced. At 95 years old, he was the oldest living astronaut and one of the greatest explorers in human history.
From Gemini 7 to Apollo 8
Selected as an astronaut in 1962, Bowman first flew in space in 1965 on NASA’s 14-day Gemini 7 mission, and later on Apollo 8, a mission originally designed to orbit Earth. I was assigned to the number. With just 16 weeks’ notice, he was upgraded to be able to lead a mission that would take him 10 times around the moon and return safely to Earth.
The mission, conducted with Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, arrived on Christmas Eve and completed 10 orbits around the moon in 20 hours. It was the first time humans escaped the influence of Earth’s gravity, and the first time humans saw the Earth as a perfect sphere and the far side of the Moon.
respectful tone
Apollo 8 was perhaps the most important, daring, and dangerous mission ever flown by NASA. “When you talk to experts and other Apollo astronauts who were around, they speak reverently about Apollo 8, but the risks were almost immeasurable,” says author Robert Carson. says Mr. Rocketman: The daring adventures of Apollo 8 and the astronauts who took humanity’s first trip to the moon In a 2018 interview.
Anders took the first “Earthrise” photo during one orbit. “Apollo 8 will probably be remembered as much as Bill’s photo because it shows the fragility of our planet, the beauty of our planet, and how insignificant we are in the universe. “Because it shows you what you’re not,” Bowman said when I spoke to him. 2018. “It’s not displayed in your home, it’s in your heart.”
Space exploration vs. Cold War
During the interview, Bowman really shocked me. He doesn’t care about space exploration, he said. To him, the Apollo program was about getting the Soviet Union to the moon and nothing else. “I was there to take part in the Cold War battle against the Soviet Union,” he told me. Just before climbing into the capsule for a 20-day trip around the moon, he told NASA it would be his last mission. His work would either be completed soon or end tragically, perhaps on Christmas Day.
As you know, Bowman had no interest in walking on the moon. “On God’s green Earth, I couldn’t imagine going back to the moon to pick up rocks,” he says.
He may have seen himself as a soldier rather than an explorer, but still, in 1968, he risked everything, even Christmas, for all of us, and all of us on the good earth. He will be remembered as one of the greatest pioneers in human history.
I wish you clear skies and big eyes.
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